IFP Advisors Inc Has $15.35 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,618 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,993 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 153,473 shares of company stock worth $105,805,440. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $665.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $752.33.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $714.80 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $691.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $640.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.